Why defending WPIAL champ Freeport girls soccer isn’t throwing in the towel despite rash of injuries
The biggest form of adversity that has encountered Freeport girls soccer in 2026 has not come from an opponent on the Yellowjackets’ schedule.
The defending WPIAL Class 2A champions have been hit hard by injuries.
First it was senior forward and Ohio University commit Camryn Woods, last year’s Butler Eagle Girls Soccer Player of the Year. She was playing at the club level in the spring when she suffered a knee injury that cut short her high school career.
Members of the team spent the summer preparing themselves mentally for the absence of 26 goals and 16 assists, which is what Woods posted in 2025, but more bad luck was on the way.
In the team’s first scrimmage in August against Mars, junior Elena Jenkins, Freeport’s top returning scorer, injured her collarbone. Three days later, Alyssa Cooper, a three-year starter on defense, went down with a groin injury during a scrimmage with Kiski Area.
“We’re hoping to get Elena and Alyssa back at some point,” Freeport head coach Steve Kukic said. “Nobody is going to feel sorry for us, especially after last year. We have to stay positive and keep going.
“We’re still going to be competitive all year and expect to be in the playoffs.”
Senior Brinley Sullivan is a four-year starting defender and team captain for the Yellowjackets (3-1, 1-0 section entering Monday). She partnered with Cooper to give the team a very skilled and experienced pair of center backs during last year’s postseason run, which ended in the state semifinals.
“We were shaken by the injuries and were nervous with how we were going to play without them in the lineup,” Sullivan said. “We’ve played a few games, though, and girls are stepping up. We can't worry about who is and isn’t on the field.”
Three starters absent from the lineup has caused a domino effect with who is playing and where. For instance, Gabby Pavlina was slated to play on defense but is now playing multiple positions and scored the winning goal against Thomas Jefferson in the season opener.
“There’s a number of girls playing out of position, and we just need to be patient,” Kukic said. “They’ve done a good job so far and are developing the consistency that comes with playing together.”
Freeport will lean heavily on the starters from 2025 that are currently in the lineup — Sullivan, defender Maggie Conger, midfielders Tess Hanak and Ella McConville and forward Cecelia Schlegel.
Despite the injuries, Freeport retains a collective belief 2026 does not have to be a lost season.
“I think we’ve done well with all the changes we’ve had,” Schlegel, a junior, said. “We are taking it one game at a time, and we still have a good chance to make a run.”
